Magnolias and Speyburn

by lespetitesmorts

Beca and Chloe have been best friends since childhood. Almost twenty years later, Chloe's getting married and Beca's having a hard time dealing with it. Angst warning, but it's also cute. Updates are small, but frequent. They occur during natural breaks in the story instead of via word counts. Recommended listening: "Marry Me" by Thomas Rhett. Also, "Happier" by Ed Sheeran.

3. Chapter 3

Beca wandered into the diner, craning her neck to find that familiar head of red hair in their corner booth. Even though Chloe went to every game, more often than not managing to drag Beca with her, she still somehow beat Beca to the diner every time. They left together, but Chloe would run the last couple of blocks just to grin happily whenever Beca did arrive at their booth, smiling in triumph.

Chloe had already ordered their strawberry milkshake, which they shared, and a plate of fries. Beca wasn't actually a fan of strawberry-flavoured things, but Chloe just got so happy whenever it finally arrived at their table, that Beca couldn't bring herself to ask for a different flavour.

In her excitement, Chloe pulled Beca into the booth beside her, keeping hold of Beca's arm even after Beca had awkwardly shuffled her body so she could sit upright.

"I'm really glad we're friends," Chloe said out of the blue, leaning against Beca's side, still gripping her arm loosely.

Beca chuckled awkwardly. "Me too, Beale." She purposefully avoided making eye contact.

"Hey," Chloe whispered softly. Beca turned her head to look at her friend, retreating slightly when she realized how close her face was to Chloe's.

She'd go to her grave swearing that Chloe was leaning in, that her eyes darted down to where Beca's lips were, but Beca would never know if Chloe meant to kiss her.

Mary, the owner of the bar, swept by with their milkshake and fries before anything could happen. Beca pulled away gently, using the arm previously held captive by Chloe to swipe a fry through the shake and pop it into her mouth. A second later, Chloe followed suit, and whatever moment they might have had was forgotten.

The girls chatted for a few minutes about the game, how their high school team was the actual worst. Chloe gestured wildly, fingers gripping her fries, to emphasis just how much their team sucked. It was fine. Chloe cared more about high school sports than Beca would ever be able to, so she let Chloe ramble. It gave her an excuse to stare and to wonder about all the things they could never be.

If Chloe noticed Beca's smiles were hollow that night, she never said a word.